In Milton Banks challenges Snyder for 3-year School Board slot

MILTON — On March 11, Milton voters will have a choice of challenger Brandy Banks or incumbent Luella Snyder for the three-year School Board position.

Brandy Banks

Banks, age 38, lives on Willey Road, and is married with two sons. This is her first run for elected office.

She works part-time for Milton Recreation Department, and is also the school board secretary for Milton and Wakefield. She was raised in Middleton, graduated from Farmington High School and has worked for Cabletron and in several other jobs.

She is a school volleyball and basketball coach, serves on Scout Pack 155’s committee, and is involved with Milton Three Ponds’ summer camp.

Banks said she is running for School Board because, with a new administration in place “the schools are going in a good direction.”

“My goal is literacy — people’s whole lives are based around it. I want early diagnoses with any problem,” she said.

“I am tired of taxes going up,” she added, “but we need to provide kids with the opportunity to be successful in life.”

Banks said she is open, down the line, to Milton being a part of a cooperative school district.

Luella Snyder

Snyder, age 66, lives on White Mountain Highway, and is single with a grown-up son. She has lived in Milton for 60 years and graduated from Nute High School. She is retired from Thompson Center Arms.

She serves on the Recreation Commission, on the Facilities Committee and has been on the Budget Committee for 12 years. She was on the Search Committee for the elementary school principal.

“I am very happy with (School Principal) Mr. Kilmister. We were lucky to get him,” she said.

Snyder has served a total of six years on Milton School Board, and has been chair of the Joint SAU Board.

Snyder is a member of the Friends of Nute organization, and every summer, she and others work to upgrade a section of the old Nute High School building, a project that she describes as “rewarding.”

“We need an upgrade of standards, and with the new administrative team and the new superintendent, we are headed there,” said Snyder.

Snyder said that this year’s school budget is not bare bones, but keeps in mind what taxpayers can afford.

“Students and taxpayers are of equal priority,” she said, adding, “I love our school and the students.”